A. Kurella, A. Munukutla, J. Lewis, Intel Corporation, Hillsboro, OR

Summary: PCB surface finishes like Immersion silver (ImAg) are gaining popularity in Pb-free manufacturing environments following RoHS legislation. With this transition, however the numbers of field failures associated with electrochemical migration, copper sulphide corrosion, via barrel galvanic corrosion are on a steady rise. As computers penetrate into emerging markets with humid and industrialized environments there is a greater concern on the reliability and functionality of these electronic components. The present paper focuses on different modes of failures, root causes and discusses possible solutions to these problems.